El Tri is coming to San Antonio

By Jeremy T. Gerlach :
December 2, 2013

Mexican team members celebrate in the second half of their most-recent game at the Alamodome in 2004.

Fans of El Tri, Mexico's national soccer team, are rejoicing that the team will be in San Antonio in January to play against Korea Republic at the Alamodome.

The match is the Mexico team's first visit to San Antonio in ten years. It kicks off a five-game tour of the United States with the other four locations yet to be announced by the Federación Mexicana de Fútbol. Seats for the San Antonio game, scheduled for Jan. 29, are available on Ticketmaster.com. Prices range from $30 to $175.

“You bet we're going, and we're going to be loud,” said Gabriel Chavez, 28, a West Side native, father of two and son of two immigrants from Monterrey, Mexico. “We're getting tuned up for the World Cup. It's going to be fun.”

Chavez plays as part of a recreational league at the STAR Soccer Complexon the North Side. While other kids were pretending to be “cowboys and Indians,” he said he grew up on a different kind of battlefield.

“That's kind of a thing, you know, that when you start playing soccer as a kid, a kid from Mexico, you almost expect that you are just going to grow up and play for El Tri,” explained Chavez. “Obviously, I like to say I grew up a little too fat and happy for that (to happen), but it's why we feel so close to the team.

“It's hard enough to find them on TV sometimes, so this is our lucky break,” Chavez said.

Cris Gonzales, Chavez's teammate, has lived in San Antonio his whole life but grew up in a house divided between U.S. and Mexico soccer fans.

“I think a lot of guys (in Texas) grow up fans of both,” said Gonzales, explaining that the heated rivalry between the two teams occasionally cools off. “I mean, just a month after (the U.S.) beat Mexico in (World Cup) qualifying, they ended up beating (Panama), which helped Mexico make it to Brazil.”

“(U.S. Midfielder) Graham Zusi scored the winning goal in that game, and Mexican fans actually dubbed him a saint,” Gonzales added, noting that he hopes San Antonio fans will extend a similarly warm welcome to the Mexico players.

While Mexico's five-game tour may just be a tune-up for the World Cup , Gonzales said it will accomplish the equally important task of attracting attention to the game.

“We grow up in San Antonio seeing the Spurs, seeing the Cowboys, seeing the Rangers year-round,” Gonzales explained. “I think if people just get to see (in person) how fun this game can be ... they'd give soccer more of a shot.”